Day 37 - BeWitching

Our first stop today was Salem, Mass.    The sky was a misty eerie haze, perfect for a witch burning town.  The temperature was in the low 70's but the humidity makes it seem much warmer.

The only witch we saw was this bronze one in front of the witch museum.

Saw some very cool houses.  "Haunted?"  We drove the coast instead of the highway and we could actually take a picture of every house we passed.   We are amazed by the upkeep of their grounds and the size of the houses.  Huge.  Beautiful two and three tone paint jobs.  The House of Seven Gables is one of the original houses still standing from the witch burning period.

There are so many other houses that just blow us away.

Then off to Gloucester, Massachusetts.  Again we took the coast road instead of the interstate.  We passed lots of marinas and inlets.  All filled with boats.  I have never seen so many boats.

In Gloucester this memorial to the men and ships that never returned from the sea.  Over 5,000 men.  Makes you want to stick to the shore.  

We are big fans, as are the Gendron Boys, of the T.V. show Wicked Tuna based here.  It is one of our 'had to see' places on our journey.  We had to do a little searching to find the marina and docks where some of the tuna boats are kept.   The show is currently not in production.  The next season's shows have already been produced.  They premier is October 1st.

We walked the docks and saw several of the boats from the show sitting idle.

In the show, Paul, of the Wicked Pissar is an A-hole and can seldom keep a crew.  They are always quitting because of his rude and rotten attitude.  He was a first mate on the Tuna.Com and then after being fired he rented a few boats, then finally bought one to Captain.  

Although we addressed him by his name, congratulated him for getting his own boat, and told him we are big fans of the show, he answered us but never looked up from his task at hand and would not pose for a picture.   I guess he carries his TV person well and is probably doing crew work on the boat because his crew probably quit him.  

We also got to see one of our favorite boats from the show, the Tuna.Com.  There was a gift shop and I would like to have had a T-Shirt with Wicked Tuna on it, but it kills me to spend $30 for a shirt.  Whenever I go to San Diego I get the best T-Shirts there.  3 for $10.   After getting a closet full at that price, I just can't see paying the big bucks for a stupid T-Shirt.  Caps were $22.  Come on folks, get real.  At $12 I would have bought two and been happy.  

We had lunch here after asking a local where to get the best bowl of Clam Chowder.  This place had pictures on the wall from the movie The Perfect Storm with Mark Walberg that was partially filmed in Gloucester.  

 The clam chowder here was actually the best I had ever eaten....  No Diane, really it was.  I had a bowl then I was going to have a second but Martha's stomach was giving her trouble so I got half of hers.  Isn't that what marriage is all about?  Sharing?  

Try finding live Maine Lobster out West for this price...  The restaurant prices for Maine Lobster run from $24 for a dinner to $60.  That sounds like San Francisco pricing.

We didn't make it as far as Portland.  Sorry Bruce.   We spent so much time in Salem and Gloucester that we got a room at this Inn in Kennebunkport, Maine.

Beautiful grounds and our room has a private balcony with a couple of chairs.  I plan on trying them out tomorrow morning as I am an early riser and Martha likes to sleep in.  (till 7 or so)

Then we went into Kennebunkport for Martha's long awaited Maine Lobster dinner.  She has been wanting a Lobster dinner for months now and we decided to wait until we were in a seaside town in Maine to have it.

We passed what we assume is the Bush Estate on the way to dinner.   Why else would a Texas flag be flying in Maine?  We'll check it out further tomorrow morning.

We asked a salesgirl where we could get the best Lobster dinner and she suggested this place.  It was right on the waterfront.

We got a good table and the salesgirl was spot on.   Great place.  Maine Lobster $24 and so was my dinner.  Salad was extra and I had a beer.  Under $100 total with tip.  This was our big dinner for our trip.  The next big meal will be Coney Island Hot Dogs when we get to New York.  More affordable we hope.

I'm not a Lobster fan and had Salmon with a lemon leek sauce.   Very good.   Martha got her Lobster dinner.  It was excellent.  She chose to get it out of the shell instead of pulling it out herself.  She was not disappointed as it was great.  About half way through she said, "I wish this would never end."  Do you think that she meant me or the Lobster?

When we first parked the truck we walked through Kennebunkport and after talking to the salesgirl we walked another four blocks or so to get to the restaurant.  It was on the other side of the inlet from where the truck was parked, but it was a beautiful evening.  We took a couple of pics on the restaurant's deck before making the trip via foot through town and back to the truck.

The sun set by the time we got back to Downtown Kennebunkport.   

Tomorrow we are heading to blue skies and hopefully some turning trees in Vermont.  We know it is a little early for the fall colors.  We had to do it at this time though so we could return by Thanksgiving to San Diego.  We have seen a few trees starting to turn, we hope Vermont will be a bit more colorful though.  We will stay the night tomorrow night in Burlington, Vermont on the waterway across from Montreal, Canada.   On the way to Burlington we just happen to pass the Ben & Jerry factory.   I think it is historically important to stop and check it out.  Thanks for reading....